This is exactly what I am looking for. For $18.99 I get a wine that is medium bodied, has fantastic balance of fruit (dark cherry, plum), acid, tannin and alcohol (very moderate). There's a touch of earth with the fruit, and the flavors just linger on my palate. It complements food (in this case a grilled lamb chop), and delivers so much more pleasure than you pay for that I have to call it a QPR King! As far as California goes it's a QPR Emperor!!

Excellent effort, and I think I will let my other bottle sleep a little longer, as there is plenty here for further development.

Is this the gamay based wine David? I can never keep Steve's wines straight. The problem is we see so few of them on the east coast. I believe it's a conspiracy between Hoke, Lou and their protege, Rashaan to keep all the ESJ wines in California.

Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knowsThat too many people have died?The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the windThe answer is blowin' in the wind.

Some day when I am down in MD, we will have to get together, and I will bring an ESJ.

By the way, the back label says this wine is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah that may be "hard to distinguish" from its Rhone inspiration. Being a fan of both Steve's wines and Southern Rhones I would have to say that he is right on, except that I find Steve's wines a touch more fruit forward. If I had this alongside a Gigondas I think it would be hard to tell which was which. Again, bravo Steve!!

You know (in reference to that thread on eGobsofhedonisticfruit.com) if Steve feels the need to "focus" his portfolio, I hope and pray that he keeps all the Rhone varieties. The wines are just too good. (I like the others as well, but the R&G/LRV and Syrahs are wines I really cannot do without.)

I live in the even worse wine desert of Montgomery (county monopoly and all). Anyway, it's a little farther than C-W but I like their selection a lot more and most of the time, their prices are a dollar or so less (at least during their fall wine sales). It's on MacArthur Blvd. in the 4800 block -- I'm sure you could get directions over the Internet. The thing is, the store isn't that large, so they don't always have all wines advertised on hand (I believe they have off-site storage) so I make a point of going through their catalogue and emailing my order a couple of days before I go in to pick it up -- that way, it's all ready for me.